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Attracting and Retaining Youth in Agriculture: Challenges and Prospects

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Journal of Community Mobilization and Sustainable Development Vol. 13(3), 385-395, September-December, 2018

Review Article

Attracting and Retaining Youth in Agriculture: Challenges and

Prospects

Sukanya Som1, R. Roy Burman1, J.P. Sharma1, R.N. Padaria1, Sudipta Paul1 and A.K. Singh2
1
ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi 110012
2
Indian Council of Agricultural Research, New Delhi-110012

ABSTRACT
Agriculture is still the primary occupation of more than half of Indian population asserting importance of this
sector in various socio-economic aspects of the country. Youth involvement is strongly realized for agricultural
reform so that it can keep pace with changing global economy. India being the youngest nation in the world has
massive youth resource to offer to agriculture sector but unfortunately, youth participation in agriculture is declining.
With this background, this paper aims to discuss some pertinent issues in present context like importance of youth
involvement and reasons for growing disinterest of youth in farming sector, channelizing enormous youth workforce
of the country into agriculture, strategies for attracting and retaining youth in agro-based rural enterprises and
institutional efforts to leverage youth for agriculture. With the help of several evidences available from different
sources we aim to find out answers to some inescapable questions like whether youth participation in agriculture can
decipher the crisis of unemployment and migration, whether agriculture sector has enough prospects to offer decent
livelihoods to youth, how youth can be motivated to take up farming and farm related businesses and most
importantly, whether leveraging youth for agriculture can be an instrument for modernization and future growth of
Indian agriculture.

Keywords: Agriculture, Rural, Youth, Unemployment, Migration

Agriculture is core to every nation’s development and it
remains fundamental to poverty reduction and economic
growth especially for the developing countries in the 21st
century (World Bank, 2008). Presently, Indian agriculture
is facing a number of emerging challenges in spite of the
production boom that it has experienced as a boon of
green revolution. The concerns have shifted from
production to more complicated, subtle and multifaceted
issues. Some of the contemporary problems in Indian
agriculture are land fragmentation, labour shortage,
depleting natural resources, climate change, low
profitability, competition due to market liberalization,
nutrition and gender issues etc. Under such circumstances
the agriculture sector needs new ideas, innovations,
rebranding and revitalization to combat these prevailing
challenges. The present scenario of changing agriculture
in India demands the energy and vitality of youth.
Provided there is enough opportunity, the innovative
mind, energy and vigor of youth which is current
demographic strength of the country can boost up the
present status of agriculture. On the contrary, there is
decreasing youth participation in agriculture over the time.
This indeed raises the question if there is scope for
leveraging youth in agriculture sector to bring prosperity
in the sector and as well as the lives of these young people.
Presently a number of contradictory facts are calling
attention of the concerned experts and policy makers. At
one hand, we have over 50 per cent of population
depending on agriculture (Anonymous, 2016a) that
contributes to only 17.4 per cent of the GDP (Indian
Economic Survey, 2015-2016), leading to poverty and
threatened livelihood of farmers and on the other hand
we are demanding for more youth involvement in
agriculture. There is also unsatisfactory return from
farming that pushes most of the young farmers towards
386 Sukanya Som et al.
other livelihood options. The scope of youth to find
decent work in rural areas is under question today. There
is also a low level of policy and investment intervention
that focuses explicitly on rural youth and on youth
employment opportunities in the agriculture and
agribusiness sectors (Proctor et al., 2012). Under these
circumstances, it is too superficial to promote more youth
involvement in agriculture without giving critical insights
into the exiting facts. Whether youth should be attracted
and retained in agriculture is a serious debate today and
needs thorough exploration. We need to look deep down
into several relevant facts and examine the present scenario
critically to infer that there is really need for more youth
participation in agriculture. We shall discuss these aspects
separately based on evidences from several literatures and
then will try to draw linkage between them to reach a
conclusion about the notion of youth involvement in
agriculture.
Who are ‘Youth’?
There is no universal definition of youth. The operational
definition of the term ‘youth’ often varies from country
to country, depending on the specific socio-cultural,
institutional, economic and political factors. Youth often
refers to the period of transition from childhood to
adulthood, encompassing processes of sexual maturation
and growing social and economic autonomy from parents
(Bennell et al., 2007). Youth can also be referred to as
those whose age range from 15 to 40 years old based on
a number of factors deemed fit in terms of their maturity,
ability to think positive and risk taking (Silva et al., 2009).
The World Development Report (2007) expanded the
range to include all people between 12 and 24 years
(WDR, 2007). The United Nations (UN) General
Assembly (UN, 2011) and the International Labour
Organization (ILO) (2005) defined youth as people
between the ages of 15 and 24. The Working Group
recommends that 18 to 30 years of age should be the age
criterion for Youth (GoI, 2012). The Government of
India (GoI) officially defines youth as persons between
the ages of 15 and 29 years based on the recommendation
of National Youth Policy 2014 (NYP, 2014). The
definition of GoI is most widely accepted in Indian
context however, it varies depending on the programme.
Demographic dividend of India:
India is the youngest nation in the world with 27.5 per
cent of the population falling in the youth category and
interestingly 70 per cent of them live in rural areas (UN,
2014a). More than half of India’s population is under the
age of 25, with 70 per cent of the population under 35
making India the youngest nation in the world (UN,
2014 b). The average age of Indian was 29 in 2010
(Anonymous, 2016b) and it contributed about 33 per cent
of youth population in the developing Asian countries
(ADB, 2008).
So, with regard to youth resources, India has a distinct
edge over the developed nations most of which will be
facing the burden of a fast ageing population in the
coming decades (Shukla, 2010). Increase in the share of
youth population due to demographic ‘dividend’ seems
to be one of the sources of future economic growth in
India. But harnessing these resources is the ultimate
challenge. Unfortunately, India has a Youth Development
Index with a value of 0.48 which is quite low. When gender
disparities in youth development index are considered,
the value is reduced further (The Commonwealth, 2015).
Presently, there are a number of socio-economic factors
giving rise to distress for the youth like role and value
conflict, emotional adjustment, career decision,
unemployment etc. (Sahni, 2013).
Lack of employment opportunity for youth is one
of the major global economic crises. The ripple effect of
this crisis is inflation which triggers the rising of food
prices, commodities and fuels. Around 12 per cent of
youth are unemployed based on Current Weekly Status
(CWS) approach (Planning Commission, 2014). Self-
employment and casual wage employment comprise a
large majority of youth employment (Mitra et al., 2013).
41.3 per cent of them are self-employed, 34.7 per cent
are casual workers, 19.4 per cent are salaried workers
and 4.6 per cent are contract workers (MoL&E, 2013).
Large percentage of workers (about 92 per cent) is
engaged in informal employment and a large majority of
them have low earnings with limited or no social
protection (ISLE, 2014).
Presently, 37.7 percent youth are engaged in primary
sector followed by 31.4 per cent in secondary sector and
30.9 per cent in tertiary sector. Though agriculture sector
is still largest employer for rural youth, As per NSS
Reports, the proportion of workers engaged in the
primary sector gradually fell from 81 per cent in 1977-78
to 59 per cent in 2011-12 for rural males and from 88
per cent in 1977-78 to 75 per cent in 2011-12 for rural
 Attracting and Retaining Youth in Agriculture: Challenges and Prospects
females (NSSO, 2013). Rural youth are increasingly turning
to the non-farm sector as the possibility of gainful
employment in the farm sector is limited. The rising levels
of youth unemployment not only causes direct economic
costs, but the social impact of joblessness is also manifested
by increased crime, mental health problems, violence, drug
abuse and social exclusion. As high as 963 youth in the
country in the age group of 18 to 30 committed suicide
due to unemployment in the year 2014 (NCRB, 2014).
The United Nations’ April 2012 Annual Ministerial Review
(UN, 2012) recognized rural employment as the key to
reducing poverty and food insecurity.
When will power of youth is matched with
opportunity, they can have a transformative impact on
socio-economic development of the nation which is called
as ‘youth dividend’. But failing to provide appropriate
employment and income generating opportunities to
young people leads to the risk of a ‘demographic disaster’.
Research from several developing countries indicates that
youth involvement in positive social relationships and
activities decreases the risk of their engaging in risky or
anti-social behavior (Chowdhary, 2009). Therefore
channelizing this vast range of youth energy into
agriculture can be a fruitful strategy to provide opportunity
and livelihood security to this ‘youth bulge’.
Importance of Youth involvement in Agriculture
Higher growth in agriculture is needed for sustainable food
security of the country and the demand for food grains
will increase further. To keep pace with these diverse
demands agriculture needs to be modernized and
diversified. Young people bring energy, vitality, and
innovation into the workforce. Many young farmers
engage in high-tech, high-risk and high-returns agri-
ventures like protected agriculture, precision farming,
organic agriculture, floriculture, medicinal and aromatic
plants cultivation etc, which are mostly avoided by the
aging farmers (Bhat et al., 2015). In the most adverse and
risky situations, young people have an extraordinary
resilience and ability to cope (UNFPA, 2006). Youth could
be the ideal catalyst to change the poor image of
agriculture given their greater possibility to adapt new
ideas, concepts and technologies (Akosa, 2011). Therefore,
a loss of youth means a loss of the opportunity to
modernize and be competitive in present era of
globalization.
387
A panel discussion on ‘Youth and Agriculture’ in the
Rio+20 Conference and the Second Global Conference
on ‘Agricultural Research for Development’ highlighted
the need of youth in developing agriculture in a sustainable
mode (Porcori, 2012). A special session on youth in
agriculture during the 2012 Farmers’ Forum of the
International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)
also emphasized the need to invest in the “rural youth of
today, the farmers of tomorrow” (Anonymous, 2012a).
The involvement of youth in agricultural production is
significant not only because of the need to feed the country,
but most importantly because it offers options for wealth
creation and financial security. It has the potential of
reducing the problems of increasing youth unemployment
and this calls for securing the interest and participation of
young people in agriculture by deliberate shift in policy,
training and promotion that specially targets the youth.
Thus, there is need to strengthen on-farm, as well as off-
farm rural employment opportunities to combat rural
poverty and to secure adequate livelihood for rural youth.
Connecting the enormous youth resources to exploit vast
range of opportunities in farming sector can give Indian
agriculture a whole new stature.
Why are youth shying away from agriculture?
At present there is insufficient youth participation in the
agricultural sector in India even though this class of people
is the most productive of any society as it contains people
in the prime of their lives physically and mentally (Mangal,
2009). The survey of 5,000 farm households across 18
states conducted by Centre for Study of Developing
Societies (CSDS) (Sood, 2014) claims that 76 per cent
farmers would prefer to do some work other than
farming. Sixty-one per cent of these farmers would prefer
to be employed in cities because of better education,
health and employment avenues there. Furthermore,
shifting out of farming is high among farmers below 30
years of age and research in other countries also showed
that occupational mobility is higher among younger
farmers and they were found to be more sensitive to
income differentials between farm and non-farm
occupations (Sharma and Bhaduri, 2009). India is losing
more than 2,000 farmers every single day and that since
1991 and the overall number of farmers has dropped by
15 million (Sainath, 2013). The migration of rural youth
to cities is around 45 per cent in the country, which is
quite alarming. Out of total migrants from rural to urban
388 Sukanya Som et al.
areas youth account for 30 per cent (Hazra, 2012). This
has several implications for the future of Indian agriculture
and India’s food security. It is imperative to find out the
reasons for growing disinterest of youth to be involved
in agriculture.
Farming sector is facing a number of problems today
like indebtedness, climate change, inadequate Govt.
support and credit, unregulated market, land degradation,
infrastructure etc. which makes youngsters lose interest in
agriculture (Chaudhary and Chaudhary, 2013). There are
a number of reasons which distract youth to shy away
from farming like low return in comparison to the effort,
perception of low status associated with farm activities
and the fact that highly educated professionals feel work
on farms is not intellectually satisfying, as it does not
involve creativity and expression (Anonymous, 2011).
Public policies governing trade, introduction of new
varieties, licensing and intellectual property rights, and
taxation do not yet provide adequate incentives to
producers and innovators. The investment climate in
agriculture is also not adequate to attract private firms
needed in marketing, processing, input supply, and finance
(Brooks et al., 2013). There is decreasing interest among
youth in entering agriculture related fields mainly due to
the persistent perception of agriculture as an out-dated
field with minimal financial returns (Paisley, 2013). It is
considered not the right place especially for those with
tertiary education. Youth are disinterested in agriculture
because of better opportunities in cities like better
employment, better pay, or a more desirable job (Foster,
2014). Some of the most important factors for youth to
shift out of agriculture are attraction towards white collar
jobs, uncertainty of crop production, low price, assured
income of service, low profit, inadequate credit etc .
(Sherawat and Sharma, 1994). In many cases, agricultural
labour migrates to urban areas because urban wage rates
in even the unorganized sector are better than those
prevailing in agriculture (Mehrotra et al., 2013). People
perceive this kind of work to be better than agriculture
even if they do not provide employment security, income
security or social security. The average size of operational
land holding is also declining in rural areas due to land
fragmentation. It has decreased from 1.35 ha per
individual in 2000-01 to 1.10 ha per individual in 2010-
11 (Agricultural Census, 2011). This phenomenon might
compel many to shift to urban areas due to lack of land
resources left back home.
Under these circumstances youth cannot be blamed
completely for leaving agriculture. In certain situations,
their decision to shift out of farming and rural areas is
righteous. Some researchers justified the migration of rural
youth to urban areas and also suggested that parents need
to acknowledge and recognize the perceived changed
trends of needs of the youth dictated by globalization
(Naamwintome and Bagson, 2013). This creates a
contradictory situation. The importance of youth
involvement in agriculture is already established. But at
the same time we cannot deny the fact that this section of
the population are constrained by several factors to engage
in farming that justifies their moving out of agriculture.
What is needed immediately to resolve this conflict is to
rebrand and reform agriculture by making a composite
plan of action to model agriculture as per the need and
demands of youth.
Leveraging Youth for Agriculture
Number of youth will be increasing day by day and they
will need employment to survive. Current predictions
suggest a steady increase in the youth population to 464
million by 2021 (Shivakumar, 2013). Their enormous
energy and potential if not channelized in proper way
will end up either being wasted or being invested in wrong
activities. Agriculture is uniquely positioned to absorb these
workers. Agriculture in India has untapped potential to
create jobs, both directly and indirectly. Even though the
general perception of people towards agriculture is
negative, there still exists enormous scope in this sector
to offer high income to practitioners, provided it is
operated in the right way (Man, 2007). Opportunities for
agriculture-based businesses and activities are almost
unlimited. Furthermore, the demand for agriculture
products is rarely affected by the world economic crisis
and downturn. The agriculture sector which comprise of
lot of activities ranging from crops, livestock to fisheries
is still seen as one of the sector which expected to offer
many job opportunities. Regional markets for food are
also booming, and tight global food supplies create high
prices and active export markets.
India can harvest the ‘youth dividend’ by accelerating
the transformative change in agriculture that can
simultaneously raise productivity, reduce real food prices,
boost rural incomes, and create jobs. We may utilize the
demographic dividend for taking Indian agriculture to
new heights by channelizing the creative energies of the
youth.
 Attracting and Retaining Youth in Agriculture: Challenges and Prospects
If educated youth choose to live in villages and launch
the new agriculture movement, based on the integrated
application of science and social wisdom, our untapped
demographic dividend will become our greatest strength
(Swaminathan, 2013). Efforts to accelerate agricultural
growth and improve food security are separated
conceptually from efforts to create jobs for young people.
This is a damaging compartmentalization, and if
continued will likely result in the forfeit of India’s youth
dividend. Efforts to enhance agricultural growth and those
to create employment for young people are
complementary, and must be so understood.
Future strategies to attract and retain youth and
opportunities
National Commission on Farmers (Swaminathan, 2007)
stressed the need for attracting and retaining educated
youth in farming. The agriculture that attracts them will
have to be profitable, competitive, and dynamic. For this,
technological and managerial upgradation of farm
operations is immediately required. An Agricultural
Transformation Movement is required at present to meet
these requirements.
Agricultural extension services can effectively
encourage youth participation to transform agriculture
as they are willing to adopt new ideas and technologies
(Chander, 2012). In a study it was found that mass media
exposure and extension agency contact had positive effect
on youth to engage in agricultural income generating
activities, while higher socio-political participation tended
to reduce youth participation in agriculture (Umunnakwe,
2014). Some of the effective extension strategies could
be more NGO participation, counseling and guiding rural
youth, creating awareness about youth programmes,
entrepreneurship development, promotion of scientific
farming and agri-business (Loganandhan, 1999).An
exclusive nationwide extension programme may be
launched to address the issues concerning rural youth to
mobilize them towards greater participation in agricultural
production activities (Srivastava, 2013).
Mass media and Information and Communication
Technologies (ICTs) can also be used effectively to attract
youth attention into agriculture. Success stories of the
innovative young farmers or agripreneurs may be
disseminated through radio, TV and newspapers to
motivate other young farmers. Community radio and
389
social media too can play vital role in encouraging and
making young farmers aware about the possibilities in
agricultural sector. Many of the NGOs and CSOs are
also working for rural and agricultural development using
ICT technologies in participatory mode. One such example
is Digital Green that work through people-based
extension systems using participatory videos. It creates a
platform for educated youth to come forward in serving
the agricultural community in a participatory mode (Afroz,
et al., 2014).
Low level of involvement of youth in agriculture in
many cases is resulted from low level of agricultural skills
and limited access to financial resources (Anonymous,
2010). The difficulty in accessing credit facilities in the
country often restricts youth to opt for farming. Therefore,
an effective credit linkage mechanism especially designed
to promote young farmers is required. Extension agencies
can guide young people to find creative ways to finance
their agricultural projects, or to start up a business further
down the agricultural value-chain (Nyoni, 2012). Operating
in group mechanisms like farmers’ organizations,
cooperatives, farm youth clubs and farmer producers’
groups can facilitate credit access from several institutional
sources. Care should be taken by governing agencies that
there is enough transparency and accessibility of youth
institutions and organizations and transparent
communication network among them.
A strong commitment to youth development as a
priority area by State Agricultural Universities (SAUs) and
other institutes engaged in agricultural education would
be a significant step toward redirecting attention and
commitment of resources to meet significant goals of
linking youth to agriculture (Russell, 1993). The vast
network of agricultural universities and colleges can play
a leading role in inculcating self-confidence and capabilities
in the students required for taking up agriculture as a
profession. Farm-graduates can begin with launching of
agri-clinics and agri-business centers (ACABC) in villages
as rural enterprises. ACABC schemes as already under
operation, should be extended for accommodating larger
numbers of agricultural graduates in villages to start up
new rural enterprises. 
While talking about youth involvement in agriculture,
besides the farmers we should also keep in mind the role
played by agricultural students and scientists. The country
has about 7000 agricultural scientists in India’s public sector
390 Sukanya Som et al.
National Agricultural Research and Education System
(NARES), of which about 27 per cent are below the age
of 40 years (Anonymous, 2013a). Care should also be
taken to train these young professionals on regular basis
and incentivize them appropriately to keep them
motivated and interested in the profession. There should
also be scope for autonomy, creative thinking and
innovation in the system to explore the best of these young
minds. Out of 20 million enrollments of students in higher
education only 97 thousands students are enrolled in
agricultural education which is quite disappointing
(Anonymous, 2013b). There should be reform in the
curricula and methodologies of agricultural education in
order to draw more young talents into the sector.
Government’s engagement in youth issues is very vital
to ensure that the youth is recognized as a valuable resource
for the advancement of the Indian society and factors
like poverty, social exclusion and economic marginalization
are being addressed. Effective mobilization of the youth,
the productive engagement of their talents and energies
and the creation of an environment by the government
to enable youth realize their full potential is imperative.
Initiatives must be taken at national level to provide
improved and easier access to resources and insurance to
youth, implementation of programs that benefit youth
exclusively, Mainstreaming and prioritizing youth issues
in national policies, and promoting youth participation in
national development and decision making processes. A
farm youth policy especially for addressing youth issues
can be formulated including suitable institutional
arrangements for its implementation.
Awareness must be created about vast range of
opportunities that exist in the field of export oriented
production, community radio, Village Knowledge Centres
(VKCs), custom hiring, mobile telephony, soil and water
quality testing, common service centres, climate risk
management centres, conservation agriculture etc. which
are particularly suited for youth.ICT programmes like
Gyandoot, MSSRF-VKC also open up opportunity for
unemployed rural youth. E-marketing and e-commerce
facilities can also open up new avenues for youth involved
in agri-business. The special session on ‘Youth in
Agriculture’ in the Farmers’ Forum Global Meeting (IFAD,
2012) recommended creation of a ‘new rural reality’
based on a positive image of farming as a dynamic
business by which youth can become entrepreneurs.
Monetary value motivates an individual to monetarily
strengthen his economic standing and use it as a yardstick
to measure his or her success in a profession (Bird, 1989).
Promoting entrepreneurship can definitely help in this
direction. However, the environment for entrepreneurial
activities is not yet conducive in India. Entrepreneurial
orientation is a complex construct. Some of the key
characteristics of entrepreneurship are achievement
motivation, risk taking ability, leadership ability, self-
confidence, decision making capability, management
orientation, innovativeness etc. (Ahmed et al., 2011).
Though most of these qualities apparently seem to be
inherent characteristics of individuals, many of the present
studies suggest that social support is an important enabler
in building entrepreneurial orientation in a social system
which is mostly lacking in the country at present (Goel,
2007). Apart from that attitude, acceptance, awareness,
Govt. support and promotion also play important role
in entrepreneurial development (Abdullah and sulaiman,
2013). Some of the major constraints for effective
entrepreneurship are poor policy framework, socio-
economic pressures, undue parental and peer influences,
improper value orientation and the nature of curricula
(Amandi, 2012).
Training on product processing, value addition,
marketing, advertising, branding can be offered and
organized largely by agricultural extension agencies.
Promotion of agro-tourism will also provide
opportunities for youth to get ideas to create new
livelihood options (Pemandu, 2013). Capacity building,
technical skill development, building ‘soft’ skills such as
communication, leadership, business skills and
mobilization of young farmers to take up high-tech
ventures and micro enterprises are other areas that are to
be taken care of by the present extension system.
What should be the future farm-sector landscape to
attract and retain youth in agriculture?
Agriculture as a whole needs to be reshaped to appeal
young people, to make them see it as an avenue of wealth-
creation rather than a subsistence mechanism. Farming
needs to be perceived as an enterprise and young farmers
of today need to be viewed as agri-preneurs and not
mere cultivators of crop. As stakeholders, rural-based
youth play key support roles within their families and
 Attracting and Retaining Youth in Agriculture: Challenges and Prospects
usually desire to be acknowledged, emotionally and
financially (PAFNET, 2010). Therefore, care must be taken
to make the agriculture sector both intellectually satisfying
and economically rewarding to attract and retain youth in
agriculture (Swaminathan, 2001). Until and unless
profitability of farm activities is not increased as per the
expectation of youth, it cannot appear as appealing to
them. In this era of market liberalization young people
expect to maintain a descent standard of living and
develop a secure and certain future for themselves and as
well as their families. Agriculture sector must be tailored
to meet these very basic needs of youth. Present generation
is not satisfied by fulfilling their materialistic needs only.
They urge for gratification of higher order needs like social
esteem and self-actualization (Maslow, 1943). They aspire
for a profession that would provide them job satisfaction,
scope for creativity, growth, intellectual, emotional, cultural
and spiritual gratification besides financial security. Failing
to provide these would lead them to frustration and
despair. Agriculture sector needs to be modernized to fit
into these multifaceted requirements of youth. This also
demands aspiration and effort from youth themselves.
They should be enthusiastic and willing enough to reshape
farming sector to make it suitable for today’s world.
Achieving coherence in policies, strategies, programs
and plans for attracting and retaining youth in agriculture
is a challenge at national, regional and global levels (Wilde
and Francis, 2012). Unfortunately, youth is either left out
or given minimal attention in policies and programmes
considerations in most of the developing countries
(Anonymous, 2009). However, the Planning Commission
of India had recognized youth as one of the most vital
section of the community (Visaria, 1998) right after
independence. The first National Youth Policy was
formulated accordingly in 1988 in India. NYP-2014 aims
at developing the youth into a productive work force,
providing them the right education and skills, promoting
entrepreneurship, promoting social values and spirit of
community service among the youth, effectively engaging
with the youth and facilitating their participation in
governance process. The focused approach on youth
development and empower ment involving all
stakeholders, as envisaged in NYP-2014, would result in
development of an educated and healthy young
population, who are not only economically productive,
but are also socially responsible citizens contributing to
the task of nation-building (NYP, 2014).
391
Initiatives by Govt. of India and ICAR
Presently, the organizational setups like Krishi Vigyan
Kendras (KVKs), NABARD farmers’ club, National Skill
Development Council (NSDC) include training and
capacity building of youth in their set of activities. The
Economic Survey 2014-15 stated that as per the Labour
Bureau Report 2014, the present skilled workforce in India
is only 2 per cent, which is much lower when compared
to the developing nations (Borpuzari, 2015). Considering
the need for skilling the work force in agricultural sector,
the Agricultural Skills Council of India (ASCI) has been
recently proposed by National Skill Development
Corporation (NSDC), which could be one ideal institution
to train rural youth. The ASCI proposes to train, certify
and accredit 56.5 million workforces comprising of
farmers, wage workers, entrepreneurs and extension
workers, over 10 years through its training partners (Hedge
and Venkattakumar, 2015). They have also proposed the
National Skill Certification and Monetary Reward in order
to incentivize youth endeavors. The ACABC initiative in
2002 by Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare,
Govt. of India in association with MANAGE, SFAC,
NABARD encourages unemployed agricultural graduates
to launch their own agribusiness by providing appropriate
training, hand-holding support and credit linkage.
Govt. of India has launched a number of youth
oriented programmes recently, like Skill India, Pradhan
Mantri Krishi Vikas Yojana, Start-up India, Stand-up India
to promote youth empowerment and entrepreneurship
(Singh et al., 2016). The Indian Council Agricultural
Research (ICAR) and departments of Agriculture in many
states are recognizing the young framers for the innovative
and diversified farming ventures taken up by them. The
recent ARYA (Attracting and Retaining Youth in
Agriculture) programme of ICAR is exclusively taking
into account the issue of declining youth interest in
agriculture. This is going to be an important strategy of
the ICAR focused on rural youth mobilization for
agricultural transfor mation during XII th plan
(Anonymous, 2012b). Another programme envisaged in
XII th five year plan called the Student ‘Rural
Entrepreneurship and Awareness Development Yojana’
(READY) aims solely at entrepreneurship development
among the youth (Anonymous, 2013c).
Other initiatives
The State Bank of India (SBI) in partnership with
392 Sukanya Som et al.
reputed NGOs like MSSRF, BAIF Development
Research Foundation and Seva Mandir initiated the SBI
Youth for India programme which is a rural fellowship
program launched in 2011 to draw youth to rural
developmental activities. The Ministers of the ASEAN
(The Association of South East Nations) initiated the
ASEAN-India Farmers Exchange recognizing the
importance of promoting innovation and entrepreneurship
among young farmers to achieve more sustainable
agriculture development in the region. This initiative is
expected to create greater awareness among the young
and innovative farmers on the promising career in the
agriculture sector (Anonymous, 2012c). Another endeavor
to bring young agricultural professionals on the same
platform The Young Professionals’ Platform for
Agricultural Research for Development (YPARD) was
launched in November 2006. It is one of the dynamic
networks of over 4,500 members in 117 different
countries dedicated to the exchange of knowledge
between youth and the participation in critical
conversations in agricultural research for development
(YPARD, 2013).
Though there have been a number of youth focused
initiatives in India, in most of the cases, the tendency has
been to dictate to youth the policies, rather than involving
them as agents of their own development. This paradigm
is to be changed. With the dynamism and flexibility youth
has the potential as an agent of positive change and this
should be ensured by development programmes (UNDP,
2014). As the potential for agriculture sector to absorb
large numbers of job-seekers and to offer meaningful
work with public and private benefits becomes clearer,
agriculture needs even more attention from policy
makers. The sector’s ability to create jobs will not be
realized without modifications to existing public programs
(Filmer et al., 2014). To tackle various problems in this
sector, more initiatives from both private as well as public
systems are required to take care of young farmers
through every possible means. On other side, farmers
also have to change their view towards agriculture by
considering agriculture as a true business. They have to
use their own vision to run the farming business effectively
besides helps from Govt. and other organizations. If
Govt. and farmers both perform their duties in time and
approach systematically, definitely there will be a brighter
future of Indian agriculture.
CONCLUSION
In spite of being one of the fastest growing economies,
a significant portion of India still suffers from hunger,
poverty, marginalization and social exclusion. Agriculture
sector, being the largest employer in the country holds
the responsibility to provide sustainable and secure
livelihoods to its practitioners. Failing to address the present
challenges faced by this sector is to condemn India to
food insecurity, poverty and increased reliance on costly
imports. Unfortunately, farming is no more viewed as a
prospective employment option for the youngsters of
the country for various constraints that this sector faces
today. There are evidences from several sources for
growing youth disinterest in farming. With careful
alteration in the present mechanism of this sector, it can
have the potential to engross the massive youth workforce
presently available in the country. This would automatically
contribute to resolving the crisis of youth unemployment
and migration as well. In order to attract and retain youth
in agriculture a respectable brand image is to be formed
so that people’s view on this sector is altered. Today,
agriculture needs to be perceived as an enterprise and the
farmer as an agri-preneur. A vast range of scopes exist in
this sector which await exploration by youth as they have
the desired innovativeness and creativity needed for
reshaping agriculture. What is needed at present is to
formulate proper policies and strategies to attract and
retain youth in this sector so that Indian agriculture can
experience a new stature in the hand of young and
enthusiastic farmers. Already many public and private
efforts are paving the way, which are chiefly focused at
sensitizing and leveraging youth for agriculture. With
proper public investments in agriculture, sustained effort
on regulatory and policy reform and ample attention to
ensure inclusion of young people in India’s agricultural
renaissance, the handsome youth dividend of the country
can wisely be utilized for development of the nation.
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Received on July, 2018, Revised on October, 2018